


Logic and Emotion

by flibbertygigget



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Aftermath of Injury, Episode: s01e11 Miri, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 07:06:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7967185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flibbertygigget/pseuds/flibbertygigget
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Bones is logical and Spock is emotional.</p><p>Aftermath of the Season 1 episode "Miri"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Logic and Emotion

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Deutsch available: [Logic and Emotion](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8891269) by [DaintyCrow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaintyCrow/pseuds/DaintyCrow)



When Bones opened his eyes to the smooth white ceiling of the sickbay, somehow wide awake in spite of the late hour, he did not expect to see the first officer sitting at his bedside.

"What do you want?" he grunted. Spock raised an eyebrow slightly.

"I simply wished to discover the speed of your recovery and ascertain when you would be fit for duty, Doctor," he said. Bones smirked.

"So what you're sayin' is that you were worried about me," he said. Spock shifted.

"Worry is an emotion that, as a Vulcan, I do not understand. You are in the care of a medical crew that is more than capable. It would be illogical to assume that you would not continue to recover as you have been." Bones saw Spock's lips thin slightly. "However, as first officer of this ship I must discourage you from needlessly putting your safety at risk."

"You're such a mother hen, Spock."

"I am unfamiliar with that particular metaphor, Doctor, and in any case I believe it to not be apt. It is not logical for the Chief Medical Officer to test potentially hazardous concoctions when there are other recourses available."

"Yeah, complete mother hen." Bones' smile fell away. "What was I supposed to do, Spock? We had only hours left before we turned into those - those things. I couldn't just sit there and wait for Jim to maybe, _maybe_ bring back the communicators. Hell, there wasn't any guarantee that they'd be able to analyze it fast enough up on the ship for it to do us any good down there. I did the only thing I could think of."

"What you did was foolish and emotional, Doctor. What if the treatment had not succeeded? What if you had been rendered comatose or killed? You were the only one on that planet with the knowledge and skills to create a viable cure, and to risk yourself when there were other options was completely illogical." Bones snorted.

"Well, I wasn't about to use it on any of you, not without testin' it first, and without bein' able to contact the Enterprise we were plum out of options. Look," Bones sat up, ignoring how Spock's hands twitched slightly as though to stop him, "it's my job to fix y'all up when thing's go belly-up, yeah? The way things looked then, I either tested the cure myself, or Jim, Janice, and all the others died, and you would be left alone on a desolate planet. If it hadn't worked, well, we didn't have enough time to develop the cure further anyways. But if anyone had died on my watch because we hesitated too long..." He shook his head. "I couldn't live with myself if that happened. I made the only decision I /could/ make." A slight line appeared between Spock's eyebrows.

"I will admit that your logic appears at least superficially sound," he said, perhaps a bit grudgingly. "Still, you should have at least notified me of what you planned, Doctor. When I heard you call for me, I thought..." Bones smiled like a cat that had just caught a canary.

"Aw, are you sayin' that you were worried about me? Who's bein' emotional and illogical now, Spock?"

"To lose such a valuable member of the away team would have compromised our mission, Doctor. It is only logical to wish-" Bones let out a short bark of laughter.

"Oh, you big old softie," he said. "Just admit it. This time at least, _I_  was the logical one, and _you_ were emotional. You do have a heart after all, even if it is in the wrong place anatomically speakin'." Spock looked at him coolly, though the tips of his ears were looking a bit greener than usual.

"If I have, as you seem to believe, become emotionally compromised in any sense, I will endeavour to correct it," Spock said. Bones rolled his eyes and tried to suppress a yawn.

"Yeah, wouldn't want it gettin' out that you're capable of givin' a shit," Bones muttered. Spock didn't answer. Bones was quickly falling asleep again, but before he was out entirely he heard the first officer. In retrospect, he never could tell if the voice had been real or imagined.

"It is not illogical, Doctor," Spock said, "to care for the wellbeing of one's friends."


End file.
